Tuning Feature: Nissan YS23DDTT Modified

"Comprehensive guide to performance parts and tuning the Nissan YS23DDTT engine!"

We are always getting posts requesting info on the premier YS23DDTT modifications. So let us look into Nissan YS23DDTT parts and outline the best upgrades on this great engine and point out some problems along the way.

This pages aim is look at YS23DDTT tuning and highlight the ultimate mods that work. Nissan YS23DDTT are popular engines and with a few sensible motorsport upgrades like remapping, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will positively increase the drivers experience of your car.

The optimum YS23DDTT modifications on an engine are sensibly the ones that give the best power gain for you spend.

We won't be swayed by popular YS23DDTT modifications, they need to be cost effective.

The camshaft profile plays a big part in the engines power output so camshaft upgrades make quite a large difference. The intake and exhaust durations will alter depending on the chosen camshaft profile, so large power band gains are on offer for camshaft upgrades.

NB: Fast road cams usually raise the bhp through the rpm band, you may sacrifice a little low down power but the top end will be higher.

Motorsport cams, raise the top end band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

In a car driven daily one, ideally, must carefully try to match your engines power to your preferences.

I would be surprised if you have ever thought a YS23DDTT Competition cam is a pleasure to live with when in heavy traffic.

Different YS23DDTT engines respond better to extreme cam durations so view each engine as unique.

The map and fuelling also have a large bearing on the bhp gains you'll make.

Altering valve durations can alter the bhp band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

YS23DDTT Tuning Stages

Stage 1 YS23DDTT modifications: Fast road camshaft, Panel air filters, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Sports exhaust manifold, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Intake headers.

Stage 2 YS23DDTT modifications: Fast road cam, fuel pump upgrades, high flow fuel injectors, Ported and polished head, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, induction kit.

Stage 3 YS23DDTT modifications: Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Twin charging conversions, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Competition cam, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression.

ECU mapping will help unlock the full potential of all the parts you've done to your YS23DDTT.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but figures achieved often depend much on the parts you've done and the condition of your engine.

It is the aim to any engine upgrade task to push fuel and air into the YS23DDTT engine

Intake headers take the air during the suck phase from the filter and allow it to be sucked into the engine cylinders with fuel for the squish phase.

Design and flow characteristics of the Intake headers can make a big change to fuel engine efficiency on the YS23DDTT.

We often see intake headers are improved through aftermarket tuning parts, although some car makers provide decently flowing intake headers.

Increasing the YS23DDTT valve size, doing a bit of YS23DDTT port enlargement and head flowing will also improve power, and more importantly will make space for a greater power increase on other upgrades.

Turbo upgrades for the YS23DDTT

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your YS23DDTT

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes impressive power gains.

When your motor is fitted with a turbocharger parts are giving better power gains and you will discover turbocharged engines are made with uprated components.

There are weak spots for every engine, with some being over specified and some just sufficiently able to handle stock power

Research these limits and fit better pistons and crank to survive the power.

We see many tuners spending a lots of money on turbocharger upgrades on the YS23DDTT only to have the YS23DDTT literally blow up when it's completed.

Larger upgraded turbo units often experience low end lag, and small turbo units spool up quickly but don't have the peak rpm engines power gains.

Thanks to new tech the selection of turbochargers is always developing and we are seeing variable vane turbochargers, allowing the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end torque.

Twin scroll turbochargers divert the exhaust gases into two channels and flow these at differently designed vanes in the turbocharger. They also improve the scavenging effect of the engine.

You'll commonly see there is a limitation in the air flow sensor MAF/MAP on the YS23DDTT when considerably more air is being pulled into the engine.

You'll see that 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited bhp at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large torque gains, although more complex to configure. We have this guide to twinchargers if you want to read more.

Uprating YS23DDTT fuel injectors

When you improve the torque you will need to look at to the fuel system.

More torque needs more fuel. We would recommend you to over specify your flow rate on the injectors.

The accepted safe increase is to add 20% capacity when fitting an injector, this accounts for injector deterioration and allows some spare capacity should the engine require more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Best YS23DDTT performance exhausts

You may need to increase your exhaust if the current exhaust is actually creating a flow problem.

On most factory exhausts you'll see your flow rate is good even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Don't go with the largest exhaust you can buy this will reduce the exhaust flow rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Common exhaust restrictions are in the catalyst installed, so adding a better flowing sports alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the YS23DDTT

The YS23DDTT engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues. {But if neglected they can cost a small fortune|When neglected they get very expensive to run|They can however be quite expensive if neglected| }

Regular oil changes are vital on the YS23DDTT, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your YS23DDTT engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our YS23DDTT owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Nissan. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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